In A Princess Knight, the Queen dies after giving birth to a daughter. The King, not knowing what else to do and having only sons, gives his daughter the same training and upbringing as his sons. Of course, this creates just a few problems when Violetta is later expected to act like a princess.

Captain Firebeard and the pirate crew of the Horrible Haddock make a big mistake when they capture a young girl in a sailboat, alone on the sea. Some young girls are not as helpless as they may seem.

Anna's young brother has an active imagination. He uses her belongings without asking. He terrorizes her when he is a monster or wild animal. But sometimes his imagination gets the best of him and then an older sister is a very good person to have around.

Each story is illustrated by Kerstin Meyer with colorful representational drawings. The humor and subtext of the stories is clearly seen in the illustrations. The translation by Anthea Bell is smooth and captures the spirit and wit of Cornelia Funke's writings.

These stories are wonderfully told and give young girls a series of positive role models for having fun, using their imaginations, and trying on some new roles.